I'm looking for the word for an apparatus to pull a barrel or other cylindrical object up a ramp. One ties ropes to the top of the ramp, wraps them around the barrel and pulls on them, thus rolling the barrel up the ramp.

I can clearly remember a diagram of this which I saw in a dictionary a long time ago, but I have forgotten the word. Any ideas?

If it were the other way around - the rope tied to the barrel and wrapped around something that turned at the top of the ramp - you'd be talking about a capstan, the same type of mechanism used for hauling up anchors and such.

The modern "come-along" (as I know it) is a bit of a hybrid. Its action is a built-in dual 'winch' as it has pulley's on both ends that are pulled together just as the barrel is pulled up the ramp, but it has large hooks on both ends which seem to *reflect the function of a single, ratcheted line such as Ron's 'capstan'.

If I recall correctly, the definition claimed it was an "apparatus". However, the illustration suggested that it was more of a method for pulling a barrel up a ramp using some rope. I've attempted to recreate the illustration as an animated gif...sorry for the shaky camera :) The gif is at http://nd.com.ru/pullramp.gif

Dear dnes: Your gif looks like a special case of a winch.My impression of it is, though, that it would have a rather small mechanical advantage. And the pull on the rope would not be kept centered, so that the barrel would tip sidewise and could not be controlled.

If I remember after more than sixty years since I had a first year physics course, mechanical advantage is ratio of force time distance traveled operator's hand, divided by force (weight) times distance traveled by object. In the case of the barrel, the ratio is one. The barrel will move up the slope pi times D, when rope is moved pi times D, so there is no mechanical advantage. The slope is one of the basic machines, so force require to move barrel up the slope is less than force required to lift barrel vertically.But in practice, it could not be assumed that the barrel would not simply slip and rotate in place.Just a dolley would be better than just the rope.

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